Saturday, March 13, 2010

Ippudo

As you can see, I am wearing a new pair of polka dot galoshes. We had popped into Ibiza Kids (they are next door to Ippudo) and had bought them right before dinner.

We got to Ipuddo at 4:55 pm and asked the hostess for a table for two. She replied that they were opening in five minutes. I reflexively (and unnecessarily) asked if we could put our name down, to which she responded, "I said we are opening in five minutes." Okay, the hostess is a little testy. Not the best PR for a restaurant, but I let it go.

What really bothered me was our subsequent interaction with a waitress who came by as we were waiting by the hostess' podium. The waitress asked if we wanted to sit down on the benches while we waited. We told her, "No thanks, it's only going to be a few minutes." Her response was, "Oh, you're afraid you're going to lose your spot in line, aren't you?" We smiled politely and shook our heads because actually, no, we weren't afraid - we were at the front of the line. And even if some huge error was made and we were seated second or third or tenth - for God's sake, the entire restaurant was empty. Getting seated was not going to be an issue. Her response - "Oh yeah you are, you're afraid you're not going to get our really good ramen, aren't you? Yeah, you're afraid."

Perhaps I've been lucky - I have not yet run into outright arrogance in New York City so far, but to encounter it in a ramen house of all places is unbelievable. Ramen is food for the masses. It is cheap and hearty and humble fare. Ramen houses should be proud if they make great tasting ramen, but to be this obnoxious about the quality of your own ramen leaves me without words.

As I was eating the delicious and unctuous broth, I decided that I kind of hate Ippudo. We're sticking with Minca. Their ramen is just as good and you are treated a million times better.